Rewind
by LittleMissDarkling
Summary: Robert Callaghan was in his prison one moment, then he was back at the SFIT fire the next. His time has been reversed, and he does not plan on wasting this opportunity. Calladashi
1. Prologue

Robert Callaghan laid on his bed. He was inside his prison cell. The walls were made of stone, the floor of concrete, and he was surrounded by some of the meanest people he's ever seen. But he belongs here.

He laid on his bed, clutching his upper left arm. He was sentenced to life with no parole for the crimes of manslaughter, arson, theft, attempted murder, and destruction of property. He could live most of those crimes, they helped to save his daughter, but he can't live with the first.

"Tadashi," he whispered to himself.

He laid on his bed, clutching his upper left arm, his chest in pain. No one knew their secret. No one knew that he loved Tadashi Hamada, and that his student loved him in return. No one knew that they were together for over a year before the accident that took his life. The accident he caused. Tadashi Hamada, his young love, was dead and it was his fault. He belonged in this prison, but not for much longer.

He laid on his bed, clutching his upper left arm, his chest in pain, dying. He knew he was suffering a heart attack. He started to skip his heart medication, and he didn't care. Hiro saved Abigail, she was going to be fine, and she didn't need a criminal father in her life, she didn't need to know who he became.

He laid on his bed, dying. His breath was becoming short, his vision was blurring. He could've called for help, but he didn't. It was better this way. He wouldn't be a drain on society; he deserved this fate.

"Robert," a voice called out.

He laid on his bed, dying, as he heard the voice of Tadashi Hamada. He turned his head towards the sound. Kneeling by his side was the spectral form of his lost love, giving him the same kind gaze that he did in life.

"What's become of us?" the specter asked. Robert tried to laugh. He rolled onto his back covering his face with his right arm.

"Only the things I have done," he spat out. "I can't believe I'm even seeing you right now. I didn't think I'd hallucinate before I died."

The spectral hand reached out to touch his face. Robert shuddered; it f _elt_ so real.

"Who said I wasn't real?" It said.

"Because you can't be," Robert responded. "Because I don't deserve to have you here." It was getting harder to breathe now. He didn't have much time left.

"I still believe in you," Tadashi said.

"You…" Fuck this hurts. "You shouldn't." The Tadashi specter shook his head.

"But I do." He pushed the arm off of Robert's face, and placed his hands his cheeks. "If you could change everything would you? Knowing what you know now? Would you do it differently?"

"Of course I would," he forced out. Darkness swam in his vision. Everything hurt. He closed his eyes.

"You promise?"

The world melted away and he felt nothing. Not the pain in his chest, or the hard mattress lying underneath him. It was all gone. He opened his eyes, and gasped.

He opened his eyes, and he was surrounded by fire.


	2. Chapter 1

Robert Callaghan was surrounded by fire. He was terrified. Then he realized he was holding something. He looked and saw he was holding the neurotransmitter, the one that controlled the micro-bots. Then he realized it.

He was back at the expo, back to that fateful night where he changed everything.

He calmed his breath, and placed the transmitter on his head. The micro-bots began to swarm around him as the building creaked. If he was back in the fire, then that meant Tadashi was too.

"Tadashi," He gasped. He commanded the micro-bots to hold onto his feet, and he quickly glided across the exhibit hall, bee-lining for the exit. He had to make it; he couldn't waste his one chance to make everything better.

"Robert!" he heard him cry out.

"Tadashi!" he yelled back, screaming over the roar of the flames. He could see him now. His clothes were collecting ash and he was coughing from smoke inhalation.

"Robert?" Tadashi coughed, finally seeing him. Callaghan continued to glide forward, lunging at him. Once he caught him in his arms, he commanded the micro-bots to surround them in a shell, leaving open an eyehole so he could still navigate them out. Only a few more seconds left, they were so close to the door then-

BOOM! The explosion. The force propelled them forward, and they were launched out of the building, through the breaking what was left of the front glass doors. The Micro-bots held fast, holding on to each other as the dome hit the ground.

"Are you all right?" Callaghan asked. The younger man was still wrapped in his arms.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he coughed. "I think I inhaled too much smoke though."

It was dark inside of the dome, with the only light coming from the neural transmitter on Callaghan's head. In the dim light, he could see Tadashi's face. Without a moments hesitation he pulled Tadashi closer, turning him so they could face to face, and kissed him. Tadashi hands rested themselves on his chest, gripping onto his sweater vest. Callaghan pulled back.

"Don't you ever do something as foolhardy as that again!" He scolded. Tadashi gave him a disapproving glare.

"You should've gotten out of the building faster then!" Tadashi scolded back.

"I'm not worth it," Callaghan sighed. He could hear people now from outside of their bubble. He could hear Hiro's panicked cries. He let Tadashi go and the pair separated a little to make themselves look presentable.

"You are to me," Tadashi said lovingly. Callaghan only nodded, and he removed the transmitter from his head, dropping all of the micro-bots out of the air.

"Tadashi!" Hiro yelled, clutching onto his brother's midsection in a desperate hug. He then pulled back a fist and punched him in the thigh.

"Ow!"

"Don't you ever do that again!" Hiro yelled. "You almost killed yourself!" Tadashi kneeled down so he could look at him eye to eye.

"But I didn't," he said, placing his hands on Hiro's shoulders. "I'm right here, I'm okay. We're going to be okay." The ambulances were now arriving on the scene. Fire Fighters were already working to put out the fire.

The neural transmitter in Callaghan's hands felt heavy. Tadashi really did almost die, and it would have been his fault, all for the piece of machinery in his hands. The trio ended up being herded to the ambulance by the EMT's. Now that he was out of the fire he did notice the burn in his throat and lungs from the smoke inhalation. He was also the person who was inside the longest; there was no way he was going to get out of this.

Once they reached a clinic Callaghan and Tadashi were given respirators and Hiro was taken in to another room to check for any head damage. Apparently the force of the blast knocked him off his feet and he ended up smacking his head on the pavement. A nurse came back later to tell Tadashi they were holding him overnight for a mild concussion.

When no one was looking Tadashi would hold his hand. Eventually Callaghan let himself take comfort it.

He was afraid this world would fade away, that maybe it was all a dying delusion, but the longer he was here, and the more he felt his hand in his, the more he began to accept this reality.

For one reason or another, he's been given a second chance. He was not going to waste this gift he has been given.

He knows now what he must do, and this time he was going to do it right.


	3. Chapter 2

Callaghan and Tadashi went their separate ways for the night. Tadashi went home with his Aunt to get some much needed rest. This was good for him though; he needed to plan. Once he got home he set to work to figure out all of the variables necessary to get Abigail back. The University would be closed for the next couple of days in response to the accident, so he had plenty of time.

First off he knew he must have the micro-bots again. They were too valuable a tool to the plan to pass up. He knew where all the pieces of the portal were being stored; so stealing those again wouldn't be a problem. He'd still need the micro bots to do that though. Once again he'd need the micro bots to put the portal back together as well.

Second he knew he needed a way to get in the portal as well. Hiro and Baymax were the ones to save her the first time. They were armored up and armed with flight capabilities to get in and back. Baymax couldn't get back though for some reason. Was it the debris?

That would make a third condition to worry about. He'd need to put the portal in a place to minimize the amount of wreckage being sucked in. Getting in is worth nothing if he can't get back out. He could reassemble it back at the old testing facility. It would keep his mission a secret, minimize debris, and keep others out of harms way. There was no need to involve any innocent bystanders in this.

As the night went on he drew up plans and pinned them to his board, mapping out every possible detail to bring the plan to fruition. He stepped back and admired his work, and then at four am he realized the flaw.

He'd need to activate the portal, concentrate on holding it together, and also go inside the portal to retrieve Abigail.

There was no way he was going to do this alone. Too much of this relied on Hiro and his inventions. If he was going to do this, he would have to find a way to ask for his help. He pinned a final question to the board and collapsed on the sofa to get some sleep. He'd figure it out later.

Xxx

He woke up past noon to the sounds of someone messing around in his kitchen. He jolted up in surprise to find Tadashi casually eating sushi while the electric kettle was boiling some water. He forgot for a brief moment that Tadashi had a key to his apartment. He also forgot that Tadashi was alive, but he really didn't want to think about that.

"Morning," he said cheerily. Callaghan sat up on his sofa and rubbed his eyes.

"What time is it?" he asked mid yawn.

"12:18," He said as he poured a couple of cups of the boiling water and put a teabags in them. He walked out of the kitchen and into the living room with them, handing one to Callaghan. He gratefully took it with both hands and took a deep whiff of it. There was nothing like the smell of green tea to get him going in the morning. Afternoon. Whatever.

"Thank you," he said, setting the cup down to let the tea steep for a few more minutes. "What are you doing here?"

"After Hiro came back from his overnight stay I said I would go get him some gummy bears to cheer him up. I grabbed myself some lunch and headed over here to check up on you." He took a sip from his mug. "Looks like it was a good idea too. You're still filthy from the fire, you know that?"

"I was busy," Callaghan said, waving his hand as though he was brushing it off. Tadashi hummed.

"I saw that," he said cryptically, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket. He handed it to Callaghan, and then sat down on the couch. Callaghan pulled the teabag from his mug then unfolded the piece of paper. He blanched when he saw it.

It was one of his notes from last night, unpinned from the board.

"'How do I ask Tadashi and Hiro for help?'" Tadashi repeated. "Its pretty obvious what was keeping you up last night. Care to explain?"

Callaghan didn't say anything. He picked up the tea and took a long drink.

"I'd like to," he said. "But I'm not sure how to. Hence the note."

"You can tell me anything, Robert," Tadashi responded. He pulled his legs up to sit cross-legged on the sofa, turned towards him. He ran a hand through his dirty hair. Where should he begin?

"Do you remember Abigail? What I told you about the accident?"

"Of course!" Tadashi nodded eagerly.

"All of this is about that. I could tell you the whole truth, and have you never believe me," he started, sipping on the green tea some more. "Or I can tell you most of it, and you won't walk out of here thinking that I've gone senile."

"I think I'll take anything right now," Tadashi said confidently. Okay, partial truth then.

"Okay, so I guess it starts with last night's fire," Callaghan started. "It's not a pretty truth, but it was my fault, I started it." Tadashi's gaze hardened, but he didn't say anything. "I needed Hiro's micro-bots and had intended to steal them as a plan surrounding the accident.

"This is where it gets… Well, let's just say I had an epiphany and backed out of the plan, then used the micro-bots to save you and get us both out of the building."

"Unbelievable," Tadashi scolded. "At least you made the right decision." Callaghan had to hold back a bitter laugh.

"So now it comes back to this, I still need the micro-bots, but the plan has changed, because now, don't question me on this, now I know that Abigail is alive, and I can save her, but I can't do it alone." He looked away; he didn't want to see Tadashi's face. He got up off the couch, and walked over to the board, repining the piece of paper. "I need yours and Hiro's help if I'm going to save her. My plan sounds and looks crazy, and maybe it is, but it's the one that will save her."

There was a squeak from the sofa, followed by light footsteps. Tadashi stood beside him and looked at the notes for a few moments as Callaghan held his breath. Tadashi then place his hand in his, intertwining their fingers.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Absolutely."

"So, when do we start?" He could've cried.

"Apparently after I take a shower," Callaghan said, trying to bring in some humor. "Since I'm so 'filthy'."

"You should've last night," Tadashi said, slipping away, heading into the kitchen to grab his shopping bag. "Otherwise we could've made out or something."

"You saying we can't do that now?" Callaghan smirked. Tadashi waved a finger at him and started walking towards the door.

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to kiss that ash off of your neck," Tadashi said. Callaghan pouted.

"Oh, fine," he snorted. "Come here." Callaghan proceeded to walk over. Tadashi grabbed him by his sweater vest, and pulled him forward, place a quick smooch on his boyfriend's lips. He pulled back and patted his face. "Take a shower, eat something, take your meds, and I'll come back with Hiro later tonight."

"You think he'll be on board?" Callaghan asked. Tadashi laughed.

"You kidding? He's going to think it's a blast." He stepped out the door. "Pay him in gummy bears and a roll of cash and he's set."

"No you don't," Callaghan said mischievously, dashing forward to grab his wrist. "Last kiss." Tadashi accepted the smooch, smiling when the pulled apart.

"I love you too, now seriously, take care of your self."

"I will!" Callaghan said, closing the door. "Bye!"

"Bye!" Tadashi walked away and he finally closed the door. Callaghan briefly raised a hand to his lips, before turning away and heading to his bathroom. First shower, then food, he could do that.

Xxx

Tadashi had just texted him to let him know he and Hiro were on their way. Callaghan straightened up the apartment, hopefully making it look less like a crazy person stayed up the entire night. He looked over his plans in silence, waiting for the brothers to arrive. He hoped Hiro would comply and help. He would be asking him to build a flying suit for Baymax; he should get a kick out of that. If not he's got ice cream in the fridge that should help butter him up.

A knock on the door broke him out of his thoughts.

"Come in!" Callaghan said. The door opened, and the brothers walked in. "Evening boys," he greeted. Hiro looked at him in confusion, then looking at Tadashi who was closing and locking the door.

"Uh, hi," he said in confusion. "Tadashi, what are we doing here?" he hissed.

"I told you, we're here to help someone," Tadashi explained. "If you listened to me you would know that."

"Yeah, but why _here_?" He emphasized. "No offense, Professor, but this is kinda weirding me out."

"That's fine, and you don't need to call me Professor, you haven't joined my class yet." Hiro gave him a blank stare. "Yeah, why don't you take a seat, and I'll explain."

The three sat down at the dining room, and Callaghan began to tell his tale. Hiro's face slowly melted from confusion to understanding.

"I think I understand now," Hiro said. "Are you really in on this?" Tadashi nodded.

"One hundred percent." Hiro slowly nodded, then turned back to Callaghan.

"Okay," he said confidently, "I'm in, what do you need me to do?"

"First I need micro-bots, I can use your plans to make my own transmitter, and program my bots to respond to my unique signal."

"Sounds good," Hiro said. Callaghan turned around and looked at the board. He grabbed one of the pictures from the board and yanked it off. It was one of his drawings of Baymax in the suit. He pushed it across the table to the brothers. "What's this?"

"This is the thing I needed for you to do," he said. "I need you to get Baymax to fly." Hiro's face lit up.

"Whoa! Seriously?" he asked. "This is going to be too cool! Where am I going to get the stuff for this though?"

"Ask your friend Fred," Callaghan simply stated. Tadashi raised a brow.

"Fred?"

"Tell him what you're doing, he'll be more than happy to join. If I recall, he is quite the comic book enthusiast." Callaghan said confidently. "He'll be a great asset to our goal."

"We'll go see him tomorrow," Tadashi said. "We'll run by and drop off the plans for the micro-bots as well."

"Sounds like a plan," Hiro said, getting up. Tadashi got up as well.

"We need to get out of here," Tadashi said. "We're no good if Aunt Cass noticed we snuck out and freaks out."

"That's fine, travel safe," Callaghan nodded.

"Wait!" Hiro said, spinning around. "Can I use your bathroom?"

"Down the hall, first door on the right."

"Thanks!" Hiro left and sped walked out of sight, leaving Tadashi and Callaghan alone. Callaghan waited a moment to make sure Hiro wouldn't turn around. Satisfied he grabbed Tadashi by the hips and pulled him close.

"Don't get too excit-" Callaghan silenced him with a kiss, which Tadashi happily reciprocated. The kiss was long and tender, and a little desperate on Callaghan's end.

Tadashi pulled back, sensing something was wrong.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Callaghan shook his head.

"No, I'm fine, I'm just glad to have your company." Tadashi side-eyed him.

"Robert, I don't think-"

"Tadashi." The pair jumped apart, Callaghan's hands flying away at the sound of Hiro's voice. "I'm ready to go now."

"Yeah, yeah, we're leaving," Tadashi said, opening the door and hopping out. "Night Callaghan!" Hiro gave him a suspicious look but followed out.

"Night!"

"Night boys," Callaghan responded, watching the door closed. Poor Tadashi was going to have to deal with that now.

Xxx

"So…" Hiro started, hopping on the Moped behind Tadashi. "You and Professor Callaghan are on first-name basis…"

"Forget about it Hiro," Tadashi warned, starting up the bike.

"No really, I want to know…" Hiro goaded. Tadashi smacked him on the helmet and began to drive off. "Ugh, fine."


	4. Chapter 3

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"Whoa," Hiro said in amazement, looking up at the large estate in front of him. "Fred lives _here_?"

"Yup," Tadashi answered. The pair walked up to the door and the elder rang the doorbell. Without missing a beat Heathcliff opened the door.

"Good day, Mr. Hamada," The butler greeted.

"Hey, Heathcliff," Tadashi greeted, coming through the door. Hiro just looked at him wide-eyed as he walked into the mansion.

"Tadashi!" Fred yelled from the top of the staircase. He hopped on the banister and rode his way down, landing on his feet once he reached the bottom, and struck a pose. "Hey."

"Hi Fred."

"Hey," Hiro said, a little miffed at being ignored.

"Hiro!" Fred cheered, reaching out a hand to ruffle the boy's unruly hair. "I didn't see you there at first, what's up little man?"

"I'm not _that_ small," Hiro pouted. Tadashi laughed.

"We're actually here to talk about something," Tadashi said. "We need your help." Fred looked at him, taking a moment to read his face.

"Okay, let's go up to my room and we can talk."

Xxx

"Wow." Fred said, taking the story in. "This is going to be so cool!" He squealed. "It's just like a comic book!"

"So you're in?" Tadashi asked.

"I'm soooo in!" Fred cheered back, shaking Tadashi's shoulders. "When do we get started?" Hiro reached into his bag and pulled out his sketchbook. He opened up to his designs and showed Fred.

"I want to make these," Hiro said. "What do you think?" Fred's eyes went big and his jaw went slack.

"This is going to be so sick!" Fred gasped. "We need to get started, now!"

"Great!" Tadashi said, pulling out his cellphone.

"Hey, do you think when we're done with this we can make something for me?" Fred asked.

"Totally!" Hiro said, pulling a pencil out of his bag. "What did you have in mind?"

Tadashi typed up a message and hit send.

Xxx

Callaghan's pocked buzzed as he received Tadashi's message. He pulled back from his work to check the phone.

 _Fred's in. How is everything going on your end?_

He hummed in approval. Everything was going smoothly.

 _I'm going fine. I've set up my machines to create the micro-bots and I'm creating the transmitter now._

 _How long do you think it will take to create the amount needed?_

 _Probably a week or so, the machines are self-running._

 _Good, I'll let you get back that. Ttyl_

Callaghan put his phone back in his pocket and turned back to the keyboard of his laptop. He was in the middle of finalizing his coding for his personal neural transmitter. He was in a large former warehouse. He bought the space years ago as a place to work on his own experiments. It was the perfect place for manufacturing his micro-bots. He already had one bin full of bots. He just needed to finish the transmitter and he was in business.

Xxx

After nine days he quit the manufacturing of the micro-bots and got to work. He did some test runs in the warehouse to make sure they were in working order. They were perfect. When the night came, he was ready.

He knew he needed to put his costume on. He picked the pieces out for movement, protection, and stealth. They had a function, but as his hand reached out to pick up the kabuki mask, he could feel himself trembling.

No, he didn't need to become that man again. The mask was just a disguise, something he had lying around the house. After his moment of hesitation he put the outfit on. He didn't attach the transmitter to the mask this time, rather he just wore it around his head and under the black cap he used to help conceal his identity. He almost forgone the mask, but it was for the best that he wore it, just incase anyone saw him. He looked at himself in the mirror.

He was ready to go.

With a wave of his arm his army of micro-bots rose on his command. He latched them to his legs and rode out of the warehouse and down the dark alleyways until he got the storage yard. He weaved in and around the cases, avoiding the lights and cameras. As soon as he was in, he was once again back out. The micro-bots held the storage units with ease.

One down, five to go.

Xxx

Hiro and Tadashi grabbed their tech from the garage and transplanted it at Fred's place, setting up shop there. Fred paid for express shipping to get the supplies they needed as fast as possible. After a couple of days they were ready to begin.

Hiro used his scanner to scan Baymax, Tadashi, and Fred. After Tadashi and Hiro talked/argued it out, it was decided that Tadashi would be the one to accompany Baymax into the portal. Fred assured him that he was going to make his own flight suit too, but Tadashi was the priority right now. This wasn't about them, it was about Abigail.

Hiro made Baymax red and purple, giving him a fully armed suit including rocket fists. Tadashi didn't know about that part though. _But_ if they were going to be super heroes, they might as well go big or go home. Baymax had some concerns, but Hiro just ignored him. While he 3D printed a test version of the suit to see if the fit was right he made a fight chip of his own design. Tadashi didn't know about that either.

He made sure to include Tadashi in the designs of his suit though, showing him the magnets that will hold him to Baymax. The pair was meant to fit together; Tadashi approved, but stipulated that the design should be full body.

"So you want a cat suit?" Hiro laughed as he edited the computerized model.

"It's not a cat suit, its protective garb," Tadashi corrected. "There's no reason to leave any skin unprotected, especially my ankles."

"Its totally a cat suit." Hiro smirked, spinning in his chair.

"Is not!" Tadashi argued.

"Is too!" Fred laughed. "That thing is totally skin tight. We're going to see your ass and everything."

"Shut up Fred," Tadashi grumbled. "Its not a cat suit."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night man."

"Hiro, add a helmet too. You can't go wrong with eye and ear protection."

"Sure thing cat man!"

"Its not a cat suit!"

A few days later the suit came in. It was made out of a blend of spandex and a bulletproof fiber, giving it flexibility while being as strong as Kevlar. It was custom designed to fit Tadashi. It was expensive, but worth it. Tadashi put it on and looked in the mirror. This thing was a lot more form fitting than he thought it would be.

"Okay, fine," Tadashi blushed. "It's a cat suit."

"Told you!"

xxx

It's been three weeks since the fire, and everything was ready. Callaghan found all of the pieces and transported them to the facility. All he needed to do was assemble them together and connect it back to the computer. He didn't want to do that just yet though. It'd be better to have someone else here incase anything went wrong. He couldn't risk any accidents, not with Abigail on the line. All he had to do know was check in with the boys and see what their status is.

He checked in as minimally as possible to keep them from being distracted. In truth he didn't want to distract himself either. Tadashi made him do things he hadn't done in a long time, he pressed impulses he thought were long dead. Staying focused was best for the both of them.

He hoped that Tadashi would be okay to go in. Hiro did it before, but was still scared. He didn't know what he would do if he lost Tadashi the same he lost his daughter. His heart couldn't take it.

Literally and figuratively he thought with some amusement.

He shook his head, no he couldn't think about that now. He pulled out his cell phone and began typing.

Xxx

The trio looked up at Baymax in amazement.

"He looks so cool!" Fred squealed.

"Yeah! And check this out!" Hiro said. "Baymax! Rocket Fist!"

Baymax lifted an arm and fired the gauntlet at a statue, shattering it. The fist came back and secured itself back to his arm.

"Rocket fist makes Freddie so happy!" Tadashi pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I fail to see how rocket fist makes me a better healthcare companion," Baymax stated.

"It doesn't!" Tadashi groaned. "Hiro! What the heck?"

"Whelp!" Hiro shrugged, raising his hands defensively. "Nothing we can do about it now."

"Come on, its pretty cool." Fred agreed. Tadashi rolled his eyes.

"Fine, whatever," He grumbled. Hiro turned around and picked up a box, handing it to Tadashi.

"Here, put this on!" Hiro demanded with smile.

"Its your suit!" Fred said, pushing Tadashi by the shoulders into the pool house. "You're going to love it!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going," Tadashi said, stepping into small building and closing the door behind him.

Three minutes later he stepped out.

The base of the outfit was the bulletproof cat suit, but with added pieces of armor on his chest, shoulders, abdomen, thighs, and crotch. The armor was made of a shock absorbent material, and colored minty blue. Hiro wanted to make it purple to match Baymax, but was consoled when Tadashi said he could make his own suit purple. He had matching boots and gloves, modified to include the magnets, and finally he had a mint helmet, encasing his head and covering his face with clear bulletproof glass.

Tadashi had to admit he was pretty impressed. All of this custom made by Hiro and Fred. He had to admit that with their skills as a scientist and cosplayer, they made for quite a fabrication team.

"Okay," he stepped out, holding the gloves in one of his hands. "How do I look?"

"Only totally awesome!" Hiro cheered.

"This is your origin story!" Fred exclaimed. "The first costume is always iconic!"

"What do you think?" Hiro asked. Tadashi moved his arms around, stretched his legs and twisted his torso.

"I think it fits good, maybe just a little on the tight side, but I'll get used to it." He turned to look at his reflection in the glass door of the pool house. "I think I could've gone without the cod piece though."

"Dude, I think that's probably one of the most important places to protect, just saying," Hiro said defensively. "It's a good idea, trust me."

"Says the person who gave my robot rocket-fists," Tadashi remarked.

"Pish posh on the specifics," Fred intervened. "Now you should go on a test flight!"

"Of course!" Hiro smacked himself on the head. He dashed forward and grabbed Tadashi's wrist. "Let's go!"

"Okay, what do I need to do?" Tadashi asked.

"You need to put on the gloves," Hiro said, waiting for Tadashi to do so. "Then all you need to do is climb on. You have the magnets in your boots, knees, and gloves. They connect to the magnets on Baymax's suit. All you need to do is hop on and go."

"Okay, I think I got this," Tadashi gulped. He stepped forward, placing one hand on Baymax's back, once he felt the pull of the magnet snapping him in place he felt more confident. He pulled himself up and stepped in both of the footholds, locking himself in place. "Okay, I'm in. You ready to go Baymax?"

"I don't see how flying will improve your health," Baymax reported, turning his robotic head towards him. Tadashi thought about it for a moment.

"It won't improve my health," Tadashi said. "But it will improve others. This is an experiment for rescue efforts. You'll be able to save more people this way now." Baymax turned his head back forward, as though pondering this.

"I see your point," the robot responded. He then unfolded the wings mounted on his back and began to power up the thrusters.

"Good job Baymax," Tadashi encouraged. "I'm ready to go when you are."

"Lifting off," Baymax said, and the pair flew into the air.

Baymax had a good sense for flight, Tadashi thought. He didn't need to give him much command. He did wonder if perhaps Baymax was trying to test his own skills now that he had motivated him. He was relieved to mentally note that this meant that Baymax's AI was working properly, allowing him to grow and adapt to make himself better suited for his purpose. He was really proud to be honest.

After about five minutes of flight they landed on one of the City's many wind turbines. It was quite a lovely view in Tadashi's opinion. His thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing inside of his pockets. He was glad Hiro had included them in the design; they were quite handy. He unzipped the pocket and pulled his phone out.

 _I have everything ready. What is your status?_

It was Callaghan. He smirked to himself and switched his phone over to the camera app. He snapped a selfie with Baymax and sent him the picture.

 _Things are going pretty good on our end if I say so_

 _That's quiet the picture._

Tadashi laughed.

 _Don't fall._

 _I won't! You should head over to Fred's mansion; we are finished with our work._

 _Okay. See you in 30._

Tadashi locked the phone and placed it back in his pocket.

"All right Baymax, let's go back," Tadashi commanded, climbing onto his back. Once secured Baymax took to the skies and back to their base. He couldn't wait to show this off to Callaghan!


	5. Chapter 4

Callaghan rode to Fred's house with his mass of micro-bots. If they were going to play show and tell, he might as well play along. He stuck to the alleyways and corridors to get by. The closer he got to the wealthier side of town the easier it became. The houses became sparser and no people were out walking around. Fred's family was one of the wealthiest in the city, and they knew it, building their home out on the far reaches of town, off of the coast.

Finally he landed at the front door, and rang the doorbell. After a moment a butler opened the door, looking up in mild amusement.

"I assume you are Professor Callaghan?" The butler asked dryly. "The boys are out in the back. You may come through the house, though I think you would prefer to go the other way around."

"I'll just go around," Callaghan said, slipping the mask up so the Heathcliff could hear him. He then commanded the micro-bots to lift him up and carry him around the house. Heathcliff stuck his head out of the door to watch, before returning inside. He allowed himself a sigh.

He was getting way too old for this shit.

Xxx

"There they are!" Fred pointed as he saw Tadashi and Baymax return.

"About time," Hiro grumbled. Fred laughed.

"Loosen up little dude, you'll get to fly eventually," he encouraged. "And I'll get to be a fire breathing monster!"

"You'll be the perfect sidekick for Baymax and I!" Hiro teased. Fred scoffed.

"It was my idea, why am I the sidekick?" Fred asked. "You're the tiny one, you're the sidekick!"

"No way! I've got a giant flying robot on my side!" Hiro argued. "You're the one dressed like an animal, you're so the sidekick."

The conversation was cut off by Baymax landing carefully next to them. The robot powered down the thrusters and closed his wings. Once the suit was flight mode was shut down Tadashi climbed down.

"So? How was it?" Fred asked.

"It was awesome!" Tadashi cheered. "I'm going to have to do this way more often."

"What about you Baymax?" Hiro asked. "Was everything working?"

"The suit was fully operational," Baymax confirmed.

"Yes!" Hiro cheered! "It worked!"

Suddenly a wave of micro-bots swarmed the courtyard, flooding the ground. From the sky a man in all black wearing a Kabuki mask descended, landing in front of them.

"Callaghan?" Hiro asked, looking up at the newcomer.

"The one and only," he said, removing the mask from his face.

"You look so badass!" Fred gushed. "Is that a _real_ leather trench coat?" Tadashi looked around.

"Looks like someone has been busy," he commented. Callaghan turned to look at him, eyeing him up and down. That was certainly quiet the suit. He would have to help him out of it later.

"So have you," he responded innocently. "That's new." Tadashi laughed and reached forward to tug on the trench coat.

"Oh yeah? Well so is this," he teased. "So what's up?"

"I have everything ready, all we need to do is assemble the pieces and retrieve Abigail." Callaghan stated. "How are things here?"

"Tadashi and Baymax just went on their test flight," Hiro stated. "Everything worked so I think its safe to say everything is ready on our end too."

"So tomorrow?" Fred asked. The other three nodded.

"Yeah tomorrow sounds good," Tadashi said. "We'll rest up, mentally prepare ourselves, and we'll do it tomorrow." Callaghan hummed in agreement.

"In that case I vote we order pizza, my treat, and hang out here," Fred said. "I've got so many video games!"

"Sounds good," Hiro said, following Fred to the house. "You got Mario kart?"

xxx

The four ordered their pizza and spent the next few hours playing Street Fighter, taking turns and playing tournament style. Callaghan didn't play games very often, but he adapted to the controls quickly, almost matching Hiro in skill.

"I can't believe you just beat me!" Hiro said in disbelief. Callaghan just laughed as his character made a victory pose.

"You say that as if this was hard," Callaghan laughed. He passed the controller over the Fred. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I think I'm about ready to turn in." Tadashi eyed him. That was a lie, he'd know if he was tired. He gave himself a knowing smile.

"Yeah, me too," Tadashi said, getting up.

"Really?" Hiro asked. "And I was looking forward to kicking your butt for a few more rounds."

"Haha, poor you," Tadashi mocked playfully, "But yeah, we'll see you tomorrow. You can follow me Professor."

"Hey, we could play Mario Kart now," They heard Fred say as they left. "I bet I can beat you on Rainbow Road!"

"No way!"

Xxx

Due to the rating, the smut scene has been cut from this chapter. However it can be read over at the Archive of our own version.

Xxx

While racing Hiro on the second lap of Rainbow Road, Fred realized that Callaghan didn't have his own room to go to that night. Given the way he looked at Tadashi though, and how they walked off together, he probably didn't need to worry about that.

Fred decided it was best to not think too hard about it.


	6. Chapter 5

Callaghan awoke the next morning alone in the bed. He could hear a shower running in the background, explaining where Tadashi probably went. As he sat up in bed he could feel the mess they made last night crusting and falling off of his body. He's going to need to take a shower too before leaving the room.

The door to the bathroom opened, allowing the steam to escape out. Tadashi walked into the doorway, naked and freshly cleaned, scrubbing his hair with a towel.

"Shower's free," he said, moving the towel to wipe down his torso. His neck and collarbones were covered in hickies. Callaghan got out of the bed and stood up, stretching out.

"Shit," he muttered, looking over at the pre-cum stained boxers he was wearing yesterday. "I don't have any spare clothes."

"You can borrow a pair of mine," Tadashi said, walking over to his bag. He bent over to get a pair, giving Callaghan a very generous view.

"Is there anything else in there I could use?" he teased.

"Ha. Funny," Tadashi snarked, grabbing some items from the bag. "I've got deodorant and a comb if you need that as well. Hiro and I have been here for the past few days finishing everything up, so I've got plenty of things. There is also more towels in the bathroom, so you should get your crusty butt in there before Hiro walks in or something."

"Fine, fine," Callaghan said, raising his hands defensively. Tadashi rolled his eyes playfully as he began to slip back into the flight suit.

"I'm going to go find Fred and get some food, come find us when you're done."

Callaghan nodded and slipped into the warm bathroom for a much needed shower. After closing the door he realized the weight of today.

They were going to save Abigail. They were going to bring his little girl home. After ten long months she was going to be home.

All would be well, and he didn't bother to hold back his tears.

Xxx

After the team had their meal and gathered their things, they left for the test facility island. Fred, Tadashi, Hiro and Baymax took Fred's family chopper, piloted by Heathcliff. Callaghan went separately using his micro-bots and a boat. Once they were all there they got to work.

Callaghan led them in the building, taking them to the room where the botched experiment took place, stopping first at the control room.

"Before we start, I want you to see the footage from the accident, so if you want to back out now, or have any concerns, you can voice them now," Callaghan said seriously. The three boys nodded, and Callaghan queued up the footage. He watched the video at least once a day, but the boy's didn't need to know that.

They silently watched the multiple screens as they captured everything from multiple angles. The test started out promisingly, with Krei demonstrating how the machine worked with a hat toss.

"Cool…" Fred said to himself, grinning. This was going to go bad, but it was still cool!

They watched the footage of Abigail getting into her pod, and launching into portal. Sirens began to go off and the portal she went through began to rapidly suck everything in, quickly tearing itself apart. The second portal was shut down via the control room and Callaghan stopped the footage.

"Any questions?"

"Is the portal going to do that again?" Hiro asked. "Sucking everything in?"

"I don't know," Callaghan said. "I did however reinforce the room to counter-act such pulls should the portal go haywire. But I'm going to go with yes, it is most likely going to happen."

"And all Hiro and I need to do is man the control room, right?" Fred asked. Callaghan nodded.

"Hiro will man the computer, you'll keep watch and signal Hiro for when he needs to activate and de active the portal. You should both be safe in there."

"Got'cha," Fred said, giving a salute.

Tadashi didn't say anything. He had no questions. He and Baymax were going to save her. And if Baymax didn't see any sense anyone… he would get her anyways, if only to give her the proper rest she deserved.

"If everything is settled I'm going to head down the test room and begin assembly," Callaghan said turning to leave. "I trust you Hiro, you're going to do fine."

"Thanks," Hiro said. Turning around to look at the computer controls, they seemed basic enough.

"I'm going to follow him down," Tadashi said. Hiro turned back around and dashed forward to hug him.

"Be safe," Hiro said seriously. Tadashi had to come back. He _had_ to.

"I'll be fine," Tadashi said. "Let us know if there is any problems, and we'll let you know when we're ready to start." Tadashi ruffled his hair and dashed out the room to follow Callaghan down. "Come on Baymax!" Baymax turned his head at the order and left the room as well, leaving Hiro and Fred alone.

Xxx

The next forty-five minutes was spent with Callaghan and Tadashi quickly rebuilding the portal. Callaghan used the micro-bots to do the heavy lifting while Tadashi worked on the delicate wires that would connect the portal back to the computer. The portal itself was wireless, but had a transmitter that connected the two together.

Callaghan held the portal up in the air with micro-bots, holding it to the walls and ceiling like a fly in a spider's web. Callaghan wanted to be able to quickly tear it apart if necessary in the event of the possibility that the portal went out of the computer's control.

He used the rest of the micro-bots to lift him up so he could check the finer details of the portal and make sure that everything was connected. Once satisfied he lowered himself back down to the ground.

"All right, Tadashi," Callaghan said, admiring his work. "I have everything done on my end."

"I'm about the same," Tadashi said. He flipped the switch and the lights on the transmitter began to flicker. "I think I have it working!" he said proudly. Callaghan walked over to inspect the work.

"Yeah, that looks about right," Callaghan said. "It's calibrating now, connecting itself to the computer and portal. Once that's done, all the computer needs to do is warm up and begin running the program and we should be good to go." Sharp static cut through the air.

"Okay, so Hiro found a microphone, wave if you can hear me," Fred said over the loud speaker. Both men looked up at the control room window and waved. Fred waved back. "Okay, good. Hiro said the computer as has received the connection and is calibrating now with an ETA of 7 minutes." Callaghan gave him a thumbs up.

"Seven minutes," Tadashi said. He took a deep breath, and held onto it, puffing his cheeks out. Callaghan frowned. Tadashi always did that when he was nervous.

"Tadashi, breathe, you'll be fine," Callaghan said, putting his hands on his shoulders and looking him in the eye. "Exhale." Tadashi nodded and let go of the breath he was holding.

"I just don't want to mess this up," Tadashi said seriously. "Abigail's life is on the line, I don't want to-"

"Tadashi, you won't do that," Callaghan urged. "You're perfect. You're going to find Abigail, and save her, and you're both going to come back. It'll be fine."

"I won't let you down!" Tadashi smiled.

"I know you won't," Callaghan said. After a moment of silence, he pulled Tadashi into a hug. "Be safe," he whispered into his ear. "I love my daughter, but I love you too."

"I love you too," Tadashi whispered back, crossing his arms behind Callaghan's back and squeezing tight.

"You have to come back no matter," Callaghan said desperately. "I can't lose you too." Callaghan was beginning to have flashbacks of the other life; the one where the news reported a smoldering body and a closed casket funeral. He couldn't live with that again.

"I'll be fine," Tadashi said pulling back. "You said so yourself, right?" Callaghan nodded.

"Good," Tadashi turned and picked his helmet up off of the floor. "We should be ready to go any minute now." He raised his helmet up, ready to place it on his head.

"Wait!" Callaghan quickly spoke. Tadashi turned around and lowered the helmet. He walked over and pulled him in close again. "Last kiss?" Tadashi grinned.

"As if I could ever say no to that face." Tadashi closed his eyes and joined his mouth with Callaghan's for one last kiss.

Back in the control room Fred gasped.

"I knew it!" Fred squealed, watching Callaghan and Tadashi make out.

"Knew what?" Hiro asked, getting up to look at what Fred was. "Holy shit! Blegh!"

"Hey man, don't be like that," Fred scolded. "I can ship it."

"Ship what?" Hiro asked. "And I'm not being like anything. Excuse me if seeing my brother engage in PDA makes me uncomfortable." Fred nodded sympathetically.

"Hmm, yeah, I can get that," He said. The computer beeped.

"Looks like everything is ready to go," Hiro said. "You tell them, and I'll look over the data real quick one more time." Fred nodded.

"Hey, love birds," Fred teased over the microphone. The two parted and Tadashi gave Fred a rude hand gesture. "Hey, now that's mean! But yeah, the computer is ready to go. Just give us the A-Okay!"

Back down in the test room Tadashi finally put his helmet on.

"I guess we're out now," Tadashi laughed. "Or at least to them."

"They'll get over it," Callaghan shrugged. "Its just one more secret."

"We'll talk about this later," Tadashi said. "I mean... I'm almost graduating, so maybe-"

"I know what you mean," Callaghan agreed. "And yes, we'll talk about this later." He turned his focus back the portal. He made the free micro-bots hold onto his feet, anchoring him to the floor. Tadashi climbed onto Baymax's back.

"You ready to go Baymax?" Tadashi asked.

"I am prepared," Baymax replied. Tadashi gave Callaghan a thumbs up, who in turn raised his hand to give the okay gesture.

"Okay, the portal is booting up now!" Fred's voice boomed over the speakers.

The portal began to hum, and activated, generating the glowing blue entrance to the unknown dimension.

"Baymax, scan!" Tadashi asked.

"Scan complete," Baymax said. "I detect signs of life, a female." Tadashi nodded.

"Good," Tadashi said. "Fire up boosters, and prepare to fly." The flight suit began to warm up, and the wings unfolded.

"Preparations made," Baymax said.

"Fly," Tadashi commanded. Baymax fired up the thrusters, and they took off, flying into the portal, disappearing from sight.


	7. Chapter 6

Tadashi didn't know what he was expecting when he flew into the portal, but he couldn't help but to stare in amazement at the new world around him. The sky, if he could call it that, around him was every color imaginable, softly swirled and brushed together, creating an endless soft, beautiful blend. There were fragments of debris from the original experiment, but not much.

Baymax was flying on autopilot, trying to find his new patient. With an enhance sensor of Tadashi's design Baymax was easily able to find her. Soon enough Tadashi could see Abigail's pod as well.

Baymax slowed his thrusters to a halt. Tadashi reached out to wipe the window of the pod, which was covered in frost.

"That's her," Tadashi said. She didn't look like she was moving. "Baymax, are you sure she's alive?"

"She is in suspended animation," Baymax said. "She will need medical assistance once awakened, and she should make a full recovery."

"Good," Tadashi said curtly. "Okay, go around to the other side, and we'll push her back out." Baymax nodded and floated around to the other side. Once he had a good grip he reactivated the thrusters and began to fly out.

"We got you Abigail," Tadashi said. "We're going to bring you home."

Xxx

The force of the portal was beginning to pull at the reinforced walls. As expected the portal went haywire right after Tadashi and Baymax entered. Callaghan had to put extra focus on the micro-bots around his feet, willing them to hold him put.

Then, shooting out like a rocket came Tadashi and Baymax, pushing the pod in front of him, landing on the floor with a loud clang. The portal was shut down after they reemerged and Callaghan tore it apart. Baymax powered down the flight suit and Tadashi climbed off. Callaghan ran over and wiped more frost off of the window.

"Abigail…" Callaghan whispered in amazement, staring at the still form of his daughter. "She's not…"

"Baymax said that she was in suspended animation," Tadashi said. "That's how she is still alive, Krei must have built the function into the pod just incase this happened."

Callaghan didn't respond to him. After a few moments of staring wordlessly at the pod, he finally broke down and cried.

Tadashi watched quietly as the sobs racked through his boyfriend's body. After a moment's hesitation, he moved next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh my God," Fred said horrified and he and Hiro walked into the room. Hiro's eyes were wide and Fred had his hands clasped over his mouth.

"No," Callaghan spoke, his tears calming down. He looked up to smile at them. "She's _alive_. She's alive, and she's safe, and she's right here." He lifted a hand to wipe his tears. "I'm just so relieved."

"I think we all are," Tadashi inputted. "But now we need to get her out of here. Baymax said she'll need medical assistance after being in suspended animation for so long. I think we should leave the pod on the beach-"

"I can't leave her alone!" Callaghan scoffed.

"You're going to have to," Tadashi said back. "You stole government parts to save her, no one can know that we did this. We have to get the pod to some place that emergency services can reach her and make an anonymous call."

Callaghan didn't look happy with the plan. However he didn't want to go to jail again, that wasn't the idea of the plan. He slowly nodded.

"Okay."

"The computer upstairs is shut-off now," Fred said. "We also wiped down all of the controls we touched with some Lysol wipes so hopefully that's should be all good." Tadashi nodded.

"Callaghan and I have been using gloves during assembly, so we should be fine there as well."

"It should be dark out by now," Hiro said. "We should probably head out." The party nodded and Callaghan lifted the micro-bots and used them to lift and carry out Abigail's pod. They left the room without looking back.

Xxx

Fred told Heathcliff to fly back to the mansion himself, as the four wanted to ride in the boat back together. The boat was rather sizeable, a good size to hold a small party if he wanted to. It was enough space at least for the pod and passengers.

The boat ride was silent: Callaghan was driving, Baymax was deactivated, Hiro watched Tadashi who was watching Callaghan, and Fred was looking at the pod, gears turning.

Tadashi noticed Hiro staring and frowned.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. Hiro shrugged.

"No," Hiro said. Tadashi didn't look convinced.

"Can we talk?" Tadashi asked, getting up. Hiro frowned.

"Fine," Hiro responded, following Tadashi down below the deck.

Fred got up, finally getting his window of opportunity. He walked up to Callaghan, who was driving, and cleared his throat.

"How'd you know that Abigail was still alive?" Fred asked. Callaghan glanced sideways at him.

"I don't know," Callaghan lied. "I just knew."

"If you knew, why didn't you do anything before?" Fred asked. "I mean all you had to do was send someone else in before the project was shut down." Callaghan frowned.

"It's complicated."

"And I think you're lying about something," Fred accused, trying to keep his voice casual. "There's something weird about this whole thing, and I want to know what it is."

"You'd never believe me," Callaghan said, giving a bitter laugh. Fred shrugged.

"I read a lot of weird shit all of the time, try me." Callaghan thought about it.

"Fine, only because I'm going to drive myself crazy thinking about it," Callaghan said. "But you can't tell Tadashi, he can't know."

"Know what?" Fred asked.

Xxx

"What is it Tadashi?" Hiro grumbled. Tadashi looked at him nervously.

"I want to know what you think," Tadashi asked.

"About what?" Hiro deadpanned.

"About me and Callaghan!" Tadashi yelled. Hiro made a face. "See, that's what I'm talking about!"

"What do you mean?" Hiro asked angrily back. Tadashi crossed his arms and curled into himself.

"You're mad, I can tell," Tadashi said. Tadashi bit his lip. "I just need to know that we're okay. We've never talked about this kind of thing before, so…"

"I'm not like that!" Hiro groaned. "I mean, I'm a little grossed out-"

"Hiro!"

"-Because he's like a 60 year-old."

"He's 48."

"And you're 21!" Hiro gestured his arms stiffly at Tadashi. He dropped them and feigned a pout. "And honestly I'm a little wounded that you kept it a secret."

"Of course I kept it a secret, I had no idea how you would react," Tadashi said. "I was scared, okay?"

Hiro stepped forward and hugged Tadashi tightly.

"Its okay," Hiro said. "I'm not mad, or homophobic, or whatever you think I am." Tadashi patted his back.

"Thanks Hiro," Tadashi smiled. Hiro pulled back and smirked.

"Besides it doesn't matter whose wrinkly ass your banging."

"His ass is not wr-"

"TMI, bro."

"You started it!"

xxx

When they got to the beach Abigail was gently placed on the sands. Fred left the boat to use an old pay phone to make the call. After emergency services were dispatched, the crew left, hurrying back to Fred's place.

They decided it was best to quickly go their separate ways. Callaghan stashed the micro-bots at Fred's and was given a ride back to his home by Heathcliff. Tadashi and Hiro stayed one more night for the sleep over alibi.

When Callaghan got home he quickly changed out of the disguise and hid it in a safe. He could get rid of later, just in case anyone caught onto them.

As he prepared a cup of green tea he finally got the phone call.

"Hello?" Callaghan asked.

"Hello. Is this Robert Callaghan?" the man on the phone asked.

"Yes this is, why?" Callaghan took a sip of his tea, and forced the gag spit when the man informed him of his daughter's discovery. After getting all of the details he hastily put on some proper clothes and rushed out of the door.

It was time to start the show.

And it was time to welcome Abigail home.


	8. Chapter 7

After one week Abigail was discharged from the hospital and free to go home. The police briefly questioned the both of them in her room while there, but seemed satisfied by what they got. Callaghan was still went to work at the college while working on collecting the pieces and building the micro-bots, so he had an alibi. Abigail of course didn't know who rescued her or how she got out of the portal, so his secret was safe.

Abigail's room was still there in his apartment, he never touched it, he couldn't bring himself to do it. After she moved out the room became more of a special guest room for her, but she always left things for herself there. The room now was filled with boxes of her things from her apartment. After her 'death' he had to collect everything from the apartment so it could be rented out again. He still had her furniture in a storage unit.

Callaghan wished he remembered this before he brought her home though.

"Oh wow," Abigail said in shock. "Looks like I've got to unpack."

"I forgot all about that!" Callaghan apologized. "I haven't been in here for a while. And honestly with you back I forgot all about it."

"Don't worry about it dad," Abigail said. She walked into the room and sat on the dusty bedspread. "Wow, we should probably wash this. This whole room could use a cleaning." She wiped a finger on the bedside table, observing the dirt. "Ten months? I was really gone for ten months?" Abigail asked in amazement.

"I still can't believe you're back," Callaghan said honestly, sitting next to her on the bed. "You were dead. No one knew what happened to you and the project was shut down right afterwards so that no one would suffer the same fate." Callaghan could feel his hands tremble.

"I'm not dead," Abigail said firmly. "I'm right here daddy. I don't know how but I am."

"I don't know either," Callaghan lied. "Someone connected to the project must have done it, but I don't know why."

"Maybe it was Krei?" Abigail suggested. Callaghan made a sour face.

"Maybe."

"Maybe I'll found out who to thank, or I won't," Abigail said. She grabbed the corner of the bedspread and pulled it back. "Help me with this please? I am not sleeping in this mess."

Callaghan laughed and got up to help. They were going to have a lot of work ahead of them to make this room inhabitable again.

Xxx

The nightmares started that night.

Every night when he tried to sleep he would wake in terror. Sometimes he was back in the fire. Others he would be back in the prison cell. But they were always connected to his crimes. The one he just woke from was particularly grueling.

This time he was in a church. Faceless people dressed in black sat in the pews around him. Up front by the alter was an open casket. He didn't want to go near it, but his body drew closer anyways. Inside was body, burnt to the crisp. Hair gone, skin flaking, and stench of smoke and rotting meat filled his nose. He wanted to look away but he couldn't, he was just stuck staring. Just when he thought it couldn't get worst, the corpse's eyes popped open, giving him an accusing glare.

"How could you?"

Callaghan splashed his face with cold water. It was 4:30 in the morning, and he had no intention of going to sleep again. Resigned to yet another early start he traded his sleepwear for sweats and went out on a morning jog. It was going to be another long day for him.

Xxx

During the summer Callaghan never taught any classes, as he preferred the normal semester length for his class plans. However as the department head for Robotics he showed up most days to be there in case anything happened. He was also there for the labs, which remained open for the upper classmen that had spaces there for them to work. The hours were reduced for the labs, but even then the closing time of 6 pm was grueling for him.

He didn't want to, but he began to drink coffee again to help him stay awake. Decaf of course was useless so he had to drink the standard kind. Whenever Tadashi showed up he hid it so that he wouldn't worry. He didn't want Tadashi to be too concerned about him. Callaghan was the one that needed to be concerned.

Tadashi was alive. Abigail was alive. Krei-Tech was unharmed. He wasn't in jail.

Everything was too easy. There had to be some catch to this. Something had to go wrong. You can't get something for nothing. Callaghan knew something bad would happen but what? When?

Callaghan finished his coffee. Something bad was going to happen soon, he just knew it. The dread was going to eat him alive.

Xxx

Abigail was sitting on the couch watch TV when he got home.

"Hi dad!" Abigail greeted.

"Hi Abby," Callaghan said back. Abigail left the couch to give him a welcome home hug.

"Krei-tech finally got back to me," she reported. "I'm going to meet with Krei to discuss compensation for the accident."

"Do you need me to be there?" Callaghan asked. Abigail waved him off.

"I'm fine, I can take care of myself," Abigail said confidently. "Besides, I'm sure I should be able to get a handsome sum from him. I am going to need money to get a new apartment. I might even get rehired."

"Are you sure you want to go back to work there?" Callaghan asked. Was this it? Was this what he was going to have to deal with. Abigail shrugged.

"It depends on what he wants to pay me. It might be a good idea for now to just have my own income again, at least until I find some other place to work," Abigail said. "I don't know. I'm still working through paperwork with the government to classify myself as living. Everything is still weird for me."

"Yeah, it is," Callaghan agreed. "You'll do fine, just do what you think is best. You lost 10 months of your life, its high time to get back at it."

"Thanks dad," Abigail said. "Dinner is the kitchen. I made chicken alfredo."

"Sounds delicious, thank you," Callaghan said, moving into the kitchen to get a plate. He tried to hope for the best.

Xxx

The pod was in front of him. He wiped the frost off of the window to look at her.

She wasn't moving. The pod opened up and Callaghan reached in to touch her.

Her lips were blue. Her skin was cold and there was no pulse under his fingertips. Her chest wasn't moving.

She was dead.

"Such a shame," a voice spoke. He looked up to see Alistair Krei standing next to the pod.

"How dare you?" Callaghan screamed in rage. He walked around the pod and punched the billionaire in the face, knocking him onto the ground. Callaghan then punched him again. And again. And again. Unrelenting in his assault. His hands were now covered in blood and he could feel the puddle soaking into his pants.

"You monster!"

Callaghan looked up. Tadashi was standing in by Krei's body, looking down in disgust.

"I thought you were better than this," Tadashi said disappointed. Callaghan blinked and Tadashi transformed back into a burnt corpse. "Then again, look at what you did to me."

Xxx

Callaghan shot up out of bed, covered in sweat. It has been two weeks and he was still having the nightmares every night. He looked over at the clock, reading 4:13 a.m.. Callaghan sighed. Another long day has begun.

School was dull as usual, though he felt especially exhausted today. Tadashi said he was coming in today though to do some diagnostic tests on Baymax, so that should help.

He poured himself a third cup of coffee. He's been drinking way more coffee than he should be drinking, but the long days and short nights have been adding up. He knew he was starting to look like shit. He wanted to hide in his office the entire day, but he knew Tadashi would come find him.

Another student eventually, who needed someone to look over their coding, drew him out. The work ended up being perfectly fine; they just wanted someone to double check before running the program. Callaghan tried to quickly retreat back but was interrupted.

"Professor Callaghan!" Tadashi greeted. Callaghan froze, forcing a smile.

"Tadashi, good to see you in," Callaghan greeted. "You need help with anything?"

"Yes," Tadashi said. That was a lie, he just wanted to get him alone. Callaghan wanted to duck out, but he knew he couldn't.

"Okay, show me what you got," Callaghan responded, walking into Tadashi's lab. Tadashi closed the screen behind him and gave Callaghan a hard look.

"Are you okay? You look awful," Tadashi said. Callaghan shook his head.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Callaghan responded cooly.

"Bullshit," Tadashi frowned. "Your skin is pale and you have bags under your eyes. Is that coffee?"

Shit.

"Yes," Callaghan admitted. "I've just been a little tired is all, and needed something to get me going."

"What's wrong?" Tadashi asked. "I've never seen you like this before."

"I'm fine don't worry about it," Callaghan said.

That's when he felt the ache in his left arm. He gasped as he felt a tightness in his chest. He dropped the cup of coffee he was holding.

"Callaghan?" Tadashi asked in concern. Baymax walked off of his charging pad and disconnected himself from some wires.

"Update complete," the robot reported. Callaghan felt his knees go week. Tadashi had to leap forward to catch him as he began to fall.

"Baymax, scan Callaghan!" Tadashi commanded, fear in his voice. "Robert, what's happening?"

"Scan complete," Baymax said. "Emergency services has been notified." Tadashi helped Callaghan into a chair. "He is currently suffering from Myocardial infarction, more commonly known as a heart attack. Please stay calm." Callaghan could feel the cold sweat breaking out, and he felt very tired. The pain in his chest began to increase.

"Robert, stay with me! Don't do this!" Tadashi begged. Callaghan closed his eyes.

This must be the catch. It was him for them. That was a fair trade in his opinion. More than fair actually, but who was he to judge.

"Open your eyes. Please, I need you here," he could hear Tadashi say. Callaghan didn't have the strength to say anything. "I love you!"

He loved him too, and that was why it had to be this way.

Callaghan's world went black.


	9. Chapter 8

Callaghan awoke surrounded by white.

Then his eyes focused and adapted to his new surroundings. He was in a hospital, the same one Abigail was in if the paint and décor was anything to go by.

"Dad!" he heard Abigail said. "He's awake!"

"I pressed the call button," Tadashi said. He was here too?

"Welcome back man," Fred said.

"Dad, how are you feeling?" Abigail asked.

"I feel exhausted. What happened?" Callaghan asked. His limbs felt weak and he felt like he could pass out again any moment.

"You had a heart attack," Tadashi said. "Baymax said it was mild, and that it was most likely brought on by stress. You've been given a 'clot-busting' treatment and drugs for the pain."

Callaghan lazily nodded. That sounded about right.

"We'll talk more about this later," Abigail said softly. "You look like you're ready to pass out again, so get some rest."

He didn't need to be told twice.

Xxx

The first two days were spent in and out of consciousness. For a mild heart attack he felt exhausted. When he woke up Abigail would be there most of the time, but some of the time Tadashi would be there too. He would be awake long enough to eat and talk for a little while, but either physical weakness or drugs would kick in and put him back out.

Xxx

Sometime on the third day Callaghan had woken up, but he hadn't opened his eyes yet, preferring not to be blinded by the light. Tadashi and Abigail were there, chatting a little, before she dropped the question.

"Why do you keep coming back?" She asked Tadashi. Callaghan decided to pretend to sleep, to see how this went.

"I don't know," Tadashi lied. "He's my professor, and personal mentor, I just want to make sure he's okay."

"There's nothing more than that?" Abigail asked, suspicion in her tone.

"What do you mean?" Tadashi asked back.

"First off, I was friends with my professors too, but I was never involved with their personal lives like this," Abigail said.

"It is a little weird I guess," Tadashi agreed.

"It is, but then there was other things," Abigail said. Callaghan could hear a zipper and some rustling in a bag. "When I went home to grab some of his things, I grabbed some fresh clothes for when he can leave. And that's when I found these."

"They're pants," Tadashi said.

"But they aren't my father's, I know that!" Abigail said. "And they definitely aren't mine. But they do look like the ones you're wearing now-"

"Oh my God…" You could say that again.

"Tadashi calm down," Abigail said. "Its fine. I just want to know the truth." Tadashi exhaled loudly.

"Okay, those are mine," Tadashi said. Abigail hummed in response. More fabric rustling and a zipper followed.

"I'll put them back later, don't worry about it," Abigail said. Tadashi didn't say anything but Callaghan could hear his foot thumping, he was freaking out. "I'm not mad! Calm down! I just wanted to know."

"Well now you do," Tadashi said. "So I'm just going to sit quietly and hold my breath."

"No, it's just…" Abigail sighed. "Its just, I was 12 when my mom died of cancer." Oh God, she was going there. "After her there was nobody else, ever. I'm 25 now… no I'm 26, crap I keep forgetting I missed my birthday."

"Happy belated birthday," Tadashi said sheepishly.

"Thanks, but yeah, do the math," Abigail responded. "I was scared that he would never find anyone else after her. But now there's you, and I'm honestly just so relieved he's finally opened up again."

Callaghan was stunned. He never knew his daughter felt that way. Tadashi's foot was no longer tapping.

"I'm… Am I really been the first person in fourteen years?" Tadashi asked. Callaghan felt really embarrassed now. He hoped he wasn't blushing; it would blow his cover.

"Yup," Abigail popped.

"Wow," Tadashi said. He could imagine the look on his face. "I knew about his wife, your mom, but he only mentioned it once and I didn't push the subject. But I never knew that I had been the only person after her."

"No pressure!" Abigail added reassuringly.

"Because that helps!" Tadashi sassed. Abigail laughed.

"I know this might sound a bit forward since I really don't know anything about your relationship with him, or really anything going on between you too, but I don't want you to hide from me. Its okay, really."

"Thank you," Tadashi said. "If it helps to comfort you, I don't think this is a fling, or at least I hope it isn't. It has been a little more than a year since we got together, and…" Callaghan could picture that perfect blush in his mind. "I love him, I really do. This relationship means something to me, and I do want to stay with him as long as he'll have me."

Callaghan felt a comforting warmth wash over him. Tadashi has never been that transparent with him. It felt good. No. It felt _fantastic_ to know that he was just as head over heels for Tadashi as he was for him. Is this what perfection feels like?

"Aw!" Abigail cooed. "You're so perfect! No wonder he fell for you!"

No wonder indeed.

"Ahaha," Tadashi laughed nervously. "Well I need to get going, I'm meeting up with a friend, but I'll see you around?"

"Come back anytime," Abigail encouraged. "I'm sure he'd love to see you."

"Thank you, again," Tadashi said. Callaghan felt his hand being lifted, and a soft kiss being placed on it. "Bye Robert."

"Aww!" Abigail cooed again. "I could get definitely get used to this."

"Bye Abigail," Tadashi said. Callaghan heard the footsteps retreat, and he knew he was gone.

"So dad, how much of that did you hear?" Abigail asked him. Callaghan popped his eyes open.

"You knew I was faking?" Callaghan asked.

"Of course!" Abigail responded smirking. "Why else did you think I started that conversation?"

"Smart-ass," Callaghan teased.

"You say that like it's a bad thing!"

Xxx

Fred was waiting for him at a local burger joint.

"Hey man, what's up?" Fred greeted. "I already ordered for you by the way."

"Thanks," Tadashi responded. "But I was going to ask the same thing, it was your idea to meet up."

"Oh duh!" Fred slapped his forehead. "I forgot! But yeah, I had something I wanted you to read." Fred unzipped his backpack and pulled out a comic trade.

" _The Reckoning_?" Tadashi read. "What's this one about?"

"Its about this guy trying to help the people he cared about, but the choices he made led to him becoming a super villain and he ended up being his undoing, leading to their destruction. Then just when he thought it was all over for him, he was magically sent back in time to the first mistake he made. Then he became a hero instead to fix his mistakes and to avoid the bad future."

"That doesn't sound bad," Tadashi nodded. "You haven't given me a comic rec in a while. I was beginning to wonder if you ran out good things to read."

"What?" Fred scoffed. "I _always_ have good things to read, I just give you the best of the best."

"And I appreciate that," Tadashi smiled. The waitress brought their food and the conversation shifted.

"So how is Callaghan doing?" Fred asked between bites of fries.

"He's doing okay, they're just trying to keep him sedated and relaxed," Tadashi explained. "Baymax and the doctors agreed that the heart attack was stress induced." Tadashi frowned. "I wish he would've talked to me. I still don't know what he's worried about."

"It'll be fine," Fred said. "Do you think maybe I could come talk to him tomorrow?"

"Sure," Tadashi nodded.

"Sweet, but could you like distract Abigail so I could talk to him alone?"

"Why?"

"Because reasons!" Fred quickly responded. "But dude, trust me, I'm just trying to help."

"Yeah, I could probably get Abby out of there," Tadashi pondered. Then he blushed. "Oh my God, I just remembered she knows about us now!"

"Dude! No way! How'd she figure it out?" Fred asked.

"When she went to get clothes for him she found some of the spares I kept there. Namely, she found and brought a pair of my pants."

"Damn!" Fred laughed. "Tadashi, you stud! I should feel bad, but I can't stop laughing!"

"Yeah, yeah," Tadashi grumbled. "But no, that's not even the weird part. She's really happy for us."

"Well I would hope so," Fred responded.

"Well, yeah, but this is different," Tadashi explained. "She said that after her mom died, he's never been with anyone else at all, ever."

"Dude," Fred breathed out. "That's deep."

"I know!" Tadashi whined.

"Well, is that a bad thing?" Fred asked. "That means he really, really likes you, right?"

"Yeah, it does," Tadashi sighed. "I don't know. Its just now I feel like I'm being compared to her, and I'm afraid that I won't measure up."

"This sounds like a conversation you need to have with him," Fred responded. "I can't help you here."

"You're right," Tadashi agreed. "But anyways, just let me know when you need to talk to Callaghan." Fred nodded.

"Gotcha!"

Xxx

After the first three days had passed Callaghan finally felt a return in energy and strength. He hoped this meant that he would get to leave soon. The doctors seemed to like his recovery rate, so he should be fine.

Abigail and Tadashi continued to visit and keep him company, and now that he could actually stay awake like a normal person he no longer felt like he was wasting their time.

The pattern continued until day six when Tadashi left with Abigail to get some lunch. The two never left together before, but he wasn't worried about. He was glad that they got along. But then Fred walked through the door.

"Sup Professor!" the man casually greeted.

"You don't have to call me that. I'm not your professor," Callaghan insisted.

"Nah," Fred shrugged. "Its like your nickname now. But anyways, I'm here to talk."

"About what?" Callaghan asked suspiciously.

"About you!" Fred said, gesturing to him. "About you, and your health, and, well, everything else."

Callaghan didn't say anything. Fred pulled up a chair and sat down.

"When you told me your story, it made me think of another one I knew."

"What? _Groundhogs Day_?" Callaghan responded.

"Nope, well maybe that too, but no." Fred corrected. "This story came from a comic book, and it's a lot like yours.

"It was about a man who made bad choices and became a super villain. He ended up failing to help the people he cared about, and only ruined himself. But then when he thought it was done for he got a second chance. He went back in time to his first mistake, and this time, made the right choices and became a super hero instead. Sound familiar?"

Callaghan nodded.

"So yeah. And then just like your story, certain events continued to happen, but the outcome changed. After all was said and done, that's when he wondered 'why?' Why did this happen? What is going to happen now? What is the Catch?"

"What was 'the Catch'?" Callaghan asked earnestly. "There has to be one. You don't get something for nothing. Why?"

"I don't know," Fred said. "And he didn't either. But he acted the exact same way that you did. He questioned his situation and began to wonder when something will happen. He began to create a self- fulfilling prophecy, just like you."

"So, there isn't one?" Callaghan asked. Fred shrugged.

"Maybe there is, maybe there isn't. But that's not the point. Your problem is you let yourself get so wrapped up in trying to figure out fate, you created your path of self-destruction." Fred looked up at heart monitor. "You let yourself get so stressed out and so worried over what is going to happen, you almost let yourself die again, just like the first time. You can't do that, you have to relax and live your life and just accept that what happened, happened."

"I still don't understand why," Callaghan said uneasily.

"I don't understand either. And maybe you'll never know why it happened. But you don't need to. You just need to accept it and move on. The only thing that's limiting you right now is you." Fred smiled sympathetically. "You can't live your life in fear of fate. Accept that something wonderful has happened and be grateful. "

Fred stopped talking and allowed Callaghan a moment to let that sink in.

"I'll... I'll try," Callaghan said uneasily.

"Good!" Fred cheered. "Besides, why would want to miss out on a single moment now?"

As if to illustrate his point, Tadashi and Abigail walked in with cups from Lucky Cat Café.

"Oh hey Fred," Tadashi greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing much, just chillin' and chattin'," He turned to Abigail. "Hi, I'm Fred."

"Is that Shadowcat on your shirt?" She asked, putting down her cup of coffee to get a closer look.

"Yup," Fred said proudly. "She's one of my top five favorite X-Men."

"Mine too!" she agreed. "I really need to finish my cosplay for her. I meant to, but you know, shenanigans."

"Oh man, that sounds sick!" Fred said excitedly. "I have a Cyclops cosplay myself. We should totally take pictures when you finish!"

"Totally!" She agreed. "Are you going to the local comic con coming up?"

"Of course! Wouldn't dream of missing it!"

"I should've seen this coming," Callaghan laughed. "Abby _loves_ X-Men."

"It looks like a match made in hell," Tadashi laughed. "Have you ever been to a convention before? You should come with us."

"Nope, never been," Callaghan answered.

"We're going to go in group cosplay!" Tadashi enticed. "We're doing Street Fighter this year. You love Street Fighter!"

"Don't let her hear you-"

"You're going to go as Street Fighter too!" Abigail squealed. "Is anyone doing Crimson Viper?"

"Nope, that one is free!" Fred affirmed. "We have a Ryu, Chun Li, Sakura, Sean, and I'm going as Guile."

"Dad you should come with us!" Abigail said. "Ooh! You should be M. Bison!"

"Oh my gosh! Right?" Fred agreed. "He's totally got the muscles for that and everything."

Callaghan was met with three eagerly grinning faces.

"So, what do you think?" Tadashi asked softly.

Fred was right, he couldn't waste his time worrying about things he couldn't control. This was his life now, and he needs to enjoy it.

"Okay, I'll go."

The room broke out in cheers.


	10. Chapter 9

One week after the attack Callaghan was discharged from the hospital. He was given anxiety medication and instructions to take it easy and stay away from caffeine. It was common sense, honestly, but it was him ignoring that that led him to landing into the hospital anyway.

He idly noticed that he hadn't had the nightmares anymore, and was very thankful for it. He supposed Fred had finally put him at ease.

When he went back to work at the university all of his students threw a small welcome back party for him in the labs. Everyone brought snacks and played music. While touched, he did have to eventually put an end to it after an hour and asked for everyone to get back to work.

The rest of the day passed as usual, with students coming and going to work on their projects or use tools that were there. Eventually by the closing hour the only one left was Tadashi.

"Can we talk?" Tadashi asked, foot thumping.

"What about?" Callaghan asked, frowning. This was never good to hear.

"Its nothing bad, I promise," Tadashi said. "But Fred said I should talk to you about it."

"What's wrong?" Callaghan asked taking Tadashi hands and holding them softly.

"Its just about something Abigail said, and honestly I think I'm," Tadashi stammered. "I'm freaking out over nothing, honestly-"

"If you're getting worked up over something then its important," Callaghan said. "Please tell me what's wrong."

"Okay," Tadashi took in a deep breath. "Is it true that I'm the only person you've dated in fourteen years?" Callaghan froze and Tadashi averted his gaze. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that. That's not fair. I told you I'm worked up over-"

"Yes," Callaghan answered. "Its true." Tadashi nodded slowly, biting his lip.

"There's something about that that's a little scary to me," Tadashi admitted. "I mean after all that time, why me? Why now?"

"Tadashi, even before my wife, my relationships were few and far in-between. I just don't connect like that with many people." Callaghan explained. "Even after her, there was no one else because there was _no one else_. Tadashi you are so smart, and academically you've been one of my most favorite students in a long time. But even past that you are so kind and thoughtful and you could use your intelligence to do anything you want and all you want to do is help the world."

Tadashi's hands were starting to tremble. Callaghan moved his thumbs in circles in a soothing gesture.

"You're perfect, and you're everything a person could ask for," Callaghan asserted. "I love you. If anyone has to worry about anything, it's me. You could do so much better you really could. I'm so old-"

"Don't say that," Tadashi commanded. "You're wonderful, and I don't care about your age, I just care about you. I love you too" Tadashi threw his arms around Callaghan's neck and kissed him. Callaghan happily complied and kissed back.

"Are we okay now?" Callaghan asked after pulling back.

"I think so," Tadashi responded. "Honestly, I was just scared that I couldn't measure up to your wife."

"Don't do that to yourself," Callaghan chided. "We don't need to do that. What we have is wonderful and we don't need to worry about these kinds of things, okay?"

"Okay," Tadashi nodded. "Do you want to go get dinner tomorrow? We haven't gone out in a while."

"Sounds great," Callaghan responded. "Text me the plans later. You need to go, and I need to do a last sweep."

"Okay," Tadashi said. He gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Bye!"

"Bye Tadashi."

Xxx

During the last weekend of July the group were all together at San Fransyoko Comic Con. Everyone did their own thing on Friday, but Saturday they coordinated and were all in their Street Fighter costumes.

"How much longer are you going to be?" Callaghan asked as he knocked on the bathroom door. He was dressed in the M. Bison costume he and Abigail made. He didn't look half bad if he could say so for himself.

"Just go down and meet everyone in the lobby," Tadashi responded from behind the door. "I'm still messing with the wig and make up."

"Why won't you tell me what you're wearing?" Callaghan asked.

"If you knew who I was going as you wouldn't let me leave this room!" Tadashi said back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Callaghan asked back.

"Go down to the lobby and you'll find out," Tadashi responded. Callaghan huffed in defeat and turned to leave.

In the lobby of the hotel everyone else was waiting.

"You look great!" Honey cheered, dressed in her Chun Li costume. Fred nodded carefully in agreement, trying not to mess up his carefully sculpted hair. Fred had managed to capture Guile's hair perfectly.

"Thank you," Callaghan said. "You all look great too." Gogo was dressed as Sakura, Wasabi as Sean, and his daughter as Crimson Viper.

"Is Tadashi chickening out?" Hiro asked, dressed as a tiny Ryu.

"You would like that wouldn't you?" Tadashi said from behind Callaghan head. The group hooted and whistled as they saw him. Callaghan sighed. That couldn't be good. He turned around to finally see what his boyfriend decided to dress as.

Tadashi was dressed simply in a hi-cut green leotard with red boots, gloves, and beret. He had a braided blonde wig and his thighs were splattered with body paint.

Cammy. He was dressed as Cammy!

"Do you guys like it?" Tadashi said as he gave the group a slow spin, showing off the back of his costume, and lots of his ass.

"You cannot be serious!" Wasabi said in shock. "Did you lose a bet?"

"Nope," Tadashi said. He looked Callaghan in the eyes as he answered Wasabi. "It was just something I wanted to do." Callaghan face palmed.

"Of course!"

"Well I think we should head out," Gogo said. The rest of the group agreed and walked out together. Callaghan and Tadashi hung towards the back of the group.

"I hope you're not going to make me regret this decision," Callaghan teased. Tadashi smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Just let me know when you have that problem," Tadashi said. "And I'll just walk a little bit faster." To make his point Tadashi sped up to walk next to Honey. Callaghan couldn't help but to stare at Tadashi's ass as he moved. Callaghan could feel himself blush. Their secret wasn't going to last much longer if he kept this up.

Xxx

It was the second week of September. School has been back in session for a three weeks and Tadashi was in his lab space tinkering on the computer.

"What are you working on?" Callaghan asked as he popped in. "It doesn't look like your assignment."

"Oh no," Tadashi said, not looking up. "I finished that. I was researching into some companies that I could sell Baymax to."

"You probably shouldn't sell before your final submissions," Callaghan advised. "But have you found any hits?"

"I think I found a few," Tadashi said. "It wouldn't hurt to schedule some presentations though to pitch him." He paused to clack in the keyboard some. "I'm hoping I can sell him to a company that can make multiple models. A Baymax with all the bells and whistles would be great for hospitals, but cheaper variations could be made to suit the needs of the chronically ill and children."

"Sounds like a plan," Callaghan said as he sipped some green tea. "Good luck with that."

"Thanks," Tadashi nodded. "I wanted him to help a lot of people, so I need to find someone who will help me do that."

"You should have no problems," Callaghan encouraged. "Selling Baymax for a healthy sum shouldn't be a problem either."

"I'm not in it for the money!" Tadashi scoffed. "Well, not _that_ much."

"Tadashi, that scanner you invented was ingenious, its honestly the most valuable part of Baymax," Callaghan inserted. "I'd focus on that on your presentations. That's what is going to sell Baymax."

"Thanks for the help," Tadashi said. Callaghan was about to open his mouth when another girl ran in asking for help on her malfunctioning project. Callaghan left quickly and Tadashi got back to work.

Callaghan had other students to check on. It was all in a days work, honestly.

Xxx

"I think that should be everything," Abigail said as she put a stack of boxes down. "Thanks for the help dad."

"No problem," Callaghan said looking around the room. "I think I like this apartment a lot more than the last one." Abigail finally found another apartment to move into, and with the money she got from Krei-Tech paid it off up front. It was nicer than the one she had before. This one had more space and better amenities.

"Yeah, I like it too," Abigail smiled. "You won't miss me too much now, will ya?" She poked her dad on the arm, laughing.

"Of course I will, I think I'm about to cry now actually, give me a moment!" Callaghan mocked, giving a fake sniffle.

"Ha, you wish," Abigail said. "But we've already been through this shtick before."

"We have," Callaghan agreed. "I'm still proud of you though."

"Of course you are," Abigail responded. She walked over and gave him a hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Callaghan said. "I'm going to head out now, you look like you have plenty of unboxing to do."

"Not going to stick around? Fine," Abigail mock pouted. Callaghan laughed and headed for the door. "Take care of yourself!"

"You too!" Callaghan said over his shoulder. "Bye Abby."

"Bye dad!" Callaghan shut the door behind him and headed for his car. He hoped this would be the last time for a while he would have to help move Abigail's things. Abigail wasn't working for Krei-Tech anymore, so hopefully he didn't have to worry too much about her.

He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket to check the time. He had intended to invite Tadashi over, but honestly his back hurt too much from all the heavy lifting. He'd give it a few days.

Xxx

Time continued to march on for Callaghan. The semester continued, going as usual. Abigail celebrated her 27th and Tadashi and Callaghan celebrated their first anniversary a few weeks later.

In the news Alistair Krei declared the investigation into the portal incident was discontinued. They had no leads to work with, and since there had been no further activity after the return of Abigail, they concluded that was the goal and there is nothing else that should be worried about. The parts were now under full security lock down so such incidents could not be repeated.

Callaghan was counting down the days until Tadashi's graduation. He had done a lot of core class credits in high school, allowing him to easily graduate earlier that usual. Tadashi would graduate in the winter, and then they could finally be together without having to sneak around and worry about the school.

The days grew colder, and trees began to shed their leaves, but the change was good. Callaghan couldn't wait for the end of the semester.

By December, their lives together could finally, truly begin.

Xxx

After graduation, Aunt Cass closed Lucky Cat early to throw Tadashi a graduation party. It was just a small gathering, with the family and the Nerd Lab crew invited. Fred brought Abigail along to hang out as well.

"I can't believe you're finally graduated!" Aunt Cass cooed as they ate their cake.

"I can't believe you graduated first!" Wasabi said.

"You couldn't wait another semester to graduate with the rest of us?" Gogo teased.

"Excuse you, I'm only a junior," Fred said, puffing his chest out.

"You're just the mascot, you don't count!" Gogo said as she poked him with her fork.

"Gogo!" Fred gasped, mock offended. "How could you? I thought I meant something to you guys!"

"You really don't" Honey teased. She reached out to pinch his cheek. "No Fred, you know we love you!"

"Do you know where you want to work yet?" Abigail asked. "I could probably help get you a job at Krei Tech if you need it. I don't work there anymore, but a letter of recommendation from me will do nice."

"No thanks," Tadashi responded. "The people I sold Baymax to want to hire me. I think it's a good idea. I get to keep making funded improvements on Baymax and work on other programs as well."

"That sounds awesome!" Fred cheered.

"It was," Hiro said. "How much did you sell Baymax for again? Five million?"

"Oh my gosh," Tadashi groaned. "It was 2.5 million." Wasabi whistled, and few collective 'damn's were heard.

"Every time I hear that it's still a surprise," Wasabi said. Tadashi laughed.

"Don't worry, you guys are working on some pretty great stuff too; find the right buyer and you'll do fine too." The door chime shook them out of their conversation to see the newcomer.

"Sorry I'm late," Callaghan said. "I had to stay behind to close up the labs."

"Its no problem!" Tadashi said, jumping up to greet him. "We still have cake left." Tadashi grabbed onto part of the scarf and unwrapped it from around his neck. Fred watched them carefully from the table.

"I figured you would've saved me a slice anyway," Callaghan said back, hanging up his wool coat and joining the party.

"Hi dad," Abigail greeted coolly.

"Hi Abby," Callaghan greeted back.

"Is that everyone?" Hiro asked Tadashi while tinkering with an iPad.

"Yup!" Tadashi answered.

"Good!" Hiro said, putting the tablet on the table for everyone to see. "Because now we can start the Street Fighter Tournament!"

The room broke out in cheers while Aunt Cass just sighed, 'Oh no not this again!' The group moved up to the living room, Callaghan taking his cake with him.

"First up, Honey and Gogo!" Hiro announced as he set the game console up.

"I promise I won't beat you down too quickly," Gogo taunted lightly. Honey laughed.

"Whatever you say, _dear_!"

While everyone was busy watching the girls duke it out, Tadashi sat on the couch and slipped his hand into Callaghan's.

"So are we really doing this?" Callaghan whispered. Tadashi nodded.

"I'm ready, are you?" Tadashi whispered back.

"What's going on," Aunt Cass said as she brought in a box pizza. "Pizza finally arrived!" As she put the pizza box down and the game was paused, she noticed Callaghan and Tadashi's hands. "What's going on?" she asked again, this time softly in confusion. Gogo paused the game, and the group turned to look at them. Fred openly grinned ear-to-ear while Hiro watched with a smirk.

"Oh, wow, um," Tadashi laughed nervously.

"I thought you said you were ready," Callaghan teased.

"I was! Just not right this second!" Tadashi corrected.

"Ready for what?" Gogo asked, putting her remote control down.

"Well," Tadashi tightened his grip on Callaghan's hands. "Its just that now that I am graduated, now is the best time for us to come out. " The room fell silent.

"Oh, wow," Aunt Cass said in shock. "Well I guess that explains why you haven't brought a girl home in over a year."

"We actually celebrated one year in October," Callaghan interjected.

"Congratulations!" Honey cheered, clapping her hands.

"Thank you," Tadashi said. "But yeah, I'm a graduated student now, so we didn't want to hide anymore. I know this is comes as a shock to you all, but you're my friends, and family, and you deserve to know."

Hiro got up to get a slice of pizza, causing everyone to stare at him instead.

"What? I'm not gonna let the pizza go cold while you guy's need to process their drama bomb," Hiro said. Taking the slice back to his seat.

"How are you not freaking out?" Wasabi asked, reaching out to grab a slice too.

"Oh, I knew already," Hiro shrugged before taking a slice.

"You knew!" Aunt Cass gaped out Hiro.

"Hey Fred knew too!" Hiro pointed out.

"Haha, I'm going to get some pizza now!" Fred said nervously.

"Fred, you traitor!" Honey mock scolded.

"Its bad form to out someone," Fred said while chewing his pizza. Gogo shrugged and grabbed a slice for her and Honey. Aunt Cass sighed, joining Tadashi on the sofa after grabbing her own slice of pizza.

"Who started it?" She asked seriously, looking at the couple.

"I did," Tadashi said. "Robert noticed my behavior since I stopped being subtle after awhile about my crush, and confronted me about it."

"You were so obvious!" Callaghan interjected. "You had to be stopped. So I tried to but-"

"But you accidently let it slip you liked me too!" Tadashi laughed. "After that it was all over him. Well I told him that if he wanted to pass me up, I would go back to being as professional as possible, but if he wanted to give it a go-"

"And here we are over a year later," Callaghan finished.

"Tada!" Tadashi added, gesturing with jazz hands.

"Okay," Aunt Cass exhaled. "I think I can live with that." She folded up the rest of the pizza and stuffed it into her mouth. When she finally swallowed she continued. "I mean what am I going to do about it anyways. Not that I _should_ do anything about it I mean… I'm… I'm just glad that you felt you could finally tell us."

"I could raise a glass to that," Gogo said, holding up her slice of pizza. Abby raised up hers, followed by everyone else. "To Tadashi and Callaghan, may they now not be unethical in all that they do."

"Oh my God," Tadashi sighed. Callaghan pinched the bridge of his nose.

"To Tadashi and Callaghan!" the group responded, followed by a bite from their food.

"Well, now that that's settled," Abigail said, finishing off her slice. "I think I'm up next for the tournament."

"And I get to fight you," Hiro said getting up.

"Wash your hands off you two," Tadashi scolded. "You're going to get the controllers greasy."

"Ugh, fine," Hiro said dramatically rolling his eyes.

"Yes mom!" Abigail said, going even more over the top than Hiro.

"Nice," he responded, giving her a fist bump. "Follow me to the bathroom."

Tadashi and Callaghan finally got their pizza and the night went on. Wasabi ended up beating Hiro and claiming championship for the night, and steadily the guests left as the hours grew later and later.

Fred finally left at 1:00 am, if only because Aunt Cass said it was Hiro's bedtime. After she had shown him out and she made Hiro go upstairs, she went looking for Tadashi and Callaghan. She didn't have to look far though as they were sleeping on the sofa.

Callaghan was sitting up against the side, with an arm slouched over. Tadashi was tucked under his other arm, with his own wrapped around his waist. Aunt Cass silent watched them for a few moments.

She was still a little uncomfortable with the relationship. It was the age difference, and the fact that the older member was responsible for his schooling that bothered her. However, she could think of at least ten other things that would've been way, way worse for him to do behind her back. If their relationship was happy and healthy, then she had no place to step in.

She picked up a blanket from the basket underneath the coffee table and draped it over them, and proceeded to head for the stairs. She turned to give them one last look. A small grin grew on her face.

"Congratulations," she said, and she headed upstairs for the night.

Callaghan and Tadashi slept on until the morning. Despite being on the couch, it was probably the best sleep they ever had together. They woke up in peace, knowing their days of hiding were over. Things would only get better from here.


	11. Epilogue

Robert Callaghan laid in his bed. He was inside on his apartment, the one he had owned for years after paying it off. The walls were painted and lined pictures, the floor was real hardwood, and he was at home. He belongs here.

He laid in his bed, his arm falling asleep. The past six months have been a journey he had never seen coming. Sometimes he wonders how he went back in time, but if he hasn't received an answer by now, then he wasn't going to get one anytime soon. He didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was at home, his daughter was safe, and his lover was alive.

He laid in his bed, his arm falling asleep, the sound of soft snores filling his ears. His lover, Tadashi Hamada, was alive, and was with him. Soon he would be turning twenty-two and he would move out of his Aunt's home and move in here, but not too soon. His Aunt had only recently found out about their relationship, and Tadashi didn't want to scare her by moving too suddenly. Callaghan couldn't wait to have him all to himself though. He couldn't wait to spend every night just like this.

He laid in his bed, his arm falling asleep, the sound of soft snores filling his ears, Tadashi's body curled up next to him. He probably didn't deserve this. He knew that he would never be able to forget his other life, the one where the crimes he committed tore everything he cared about apart. He really shouldn't be thinking about this now.

He laid in his bed, shifting to pull away from Tadashi slowly, trying not wake him as he pulled his arm out from under his head. However Tadashi groaned anyway, and rolled over.

"Robert?" Tadashi asked sleepily. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine," Callaghan responded. Tadashi closed his eyes, but frowned.

"You should be asleep, lay back down," Tadashi said as he pulled on Callaghan's sleep shirt. Callaghan smiled, and slipped back down under the covers again.

"Okay," he responded, adjusting himself to find his comfy spot.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Tadashi asked. Callaghan shrugged.

"I was just thinking about things, that's all," he responded. "I'm fine, go back to sleep."

"You go to sleep first," Tadashi said back. "Tell me what's on your mind, it might help."

"I was just thinking about…" Thinking about what? The past, the future, his death, his life? "I was thinking about us."

"Aww," Tadashi cooed, before laughing. "I love you too, now go to sleep."

"Okay," Callaghan said simply. Tadashi rolled over, resuming his position as the little spoon. Callaghan kissed the back of his neck before settling into his own pillow.

He laid in his bed, the love of his life curled up in his arms. He wasn't perfect, but he didn't need to be. He was given a second chance, and he made everything better again. For now, all he wanted to be was happy. He closed his eyes, finally feeling himself drift to sleep.

All was well.

The End


End file.
